Insider shares contract offers Giants' Saquon Barkley rejected

There's more information about the contract offers that New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley rejected during and after the 2022 NFL season. 

"The Giants, according to sources, offered Barkley a multi-year deal worth $12.5M a season at the bye week, then increased that number to $13M with a chance to get to $14M in incentives shortly after the season," team beat writer Bob Brookover of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com reported over the weekend. 

Brookover shared this latest update after Paul Schwartz of the New York Post wrote last week that Barkley "turned down an offer averaging $12.5M per year" in early November. Schwartz added that the Giants then "slightly increased their offer to around $13M per year" after they made the playoffs. 

A "prominent player agent" told Schwartz that Barkley "turning down an offer in the $12M-$13M a year range was 'dumb' as long as the structure was fair — about 60 percent in guaranteed money" and that the 26-year-old essentially would be lucky to receive "a three-year, $30M package — with a guarantee of about $18M" this spring or summer. 

It was learned on March 7 that the Giants had agreed to a four-year contract with quarterback Daniel Jones that allowed them to use the non-exclusive franchise tag to retain Barkley's rights for the 2023 season. Barkley hasn't yet signed the tag but likely will play on the $10.091M franchise tender during the upcoming campaign unless he either forfeits money by sitting games out or gives the Giants a noteworthy discount compared to what he allegedly wanted this past winter. 

"He and his agent Kim Miale obviously overestimated the running-back market," Schwartz wrote about Barkley. "They could argue that Barkley doesn’t know his true value because he was blocked from testing the free-agent market after the Giants used the franchise tag on him."  

Either way, Giants general manager Joe Schoen has indicated he will only lock Barkley down via a contract before the July 17 deadline for teams to sign tagged players if they reach a point "where both parties are happy with where you end up." 

Schoen selected Oklahoma Sooners running back Eric Gray with a fifth-round pick in the draft last month and may view Gray as part of a future backfield that won't include Barkley beyond next February.